The transportation industry has been and continues to be an indispensable component of United States commerce. In 2015, for example, the U.S. transportation system moved a daily average of about 49.3 million tons of freight valued at more than $52.5 billion according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and Federal Highway Administration, Freight Analysis Framework, Version 4.3.1, 2017 (BTS). The largest component of the U.S. transportation system in 2015 according to the BTS was the trucking industry, responsible for a daily average of about 10.8 million tons of freight at a value of about $12 billion and is expected to increase by about 1.4% per year between 2015 and 2045.
The top 10 commodities by weight according to the BTS are comprised entirely of bulk products, which accounted for 67.3 percent of total tonnage transported, much of which may require flatbed transport due in part to the method by which such bulk products may be loaded onto the truck (e.g., bulk products loaded via fork lift along one or more sides of the flatbed) as well as the nature by which such bulk products may not conform to the exact dimensions of an enclosed semi-trailer (e.g., extension of bulk products beyond the standard length, height and/or width of an enclosed semi-trailer).
Depending upon weather and other factors such as bill of lading requirements, such bulk products transported via flatbed semi-trailers, in addition to the tiedowns required for the securement of the bulk products, may also be required to be protected from environmental conditions (e.g., wind, rain, sleet, snow and sunlight) via a protective layer (e.g., a tarpaulin sheet or cover abbreviated “tarp”). Such a tarp may be required to extend along the top, front, back and/or sides of the payload for environmental protection, which may further require that the tarp be secured to the payload during transport.
Conventional securement systems used to fasten a tarp to a payload generally include a system of flexible straps (e.g., bungee cords) with metal hooks on each end such that a hook on one end of the flexible strap may engage the tarp at certain attachment points (e.g., via a metal grommet or D-ring embedded within the tarp) and a hook on the other end of the flexible strap to engage an attachment point of the flatbed semi-trailer (e.g., a bottom edge of a rubrail of the flatbed semi-trailer).
A typical flatbed semi-trailer may, for example, require a number (e.g., 80) of such bungee cords to secure a tarp onto a standard-size payload. Accordingly, several tens of minutes (e.g., up to 30 minutes or more) may be required to secure such a tarp onto a standard-size payload of a flatbed semi-trailer using a conventional system of bungee cords.
Along with the amount of time required to secure a tarp with an adequate number of bungee cords are certain other undesirable characteristics related to bungee-cord-based fastening systems, which among others, include the safety hazard presented by the unexpected release of stored energy within the elastic portion of a bungee cord. Such an unexpected stored energy release may cause a safety hazard that may, for example, be created by the propulsion and resulting flailing of the hooks of the bungee cords during such an unexpected stored energy release. Such safety hazards may, for example, be unexpectedly created when the hooks pull out of the user's hand when the user attempts to set the hook into the attachment point while the bungee cord is under tension, or when the hook unexpectedly releases from the attachment point, or when the attachment point fails, or when the hook fails, or when the elastic portion of the bungee cord fails or when the hook releases from the elastic portion of the bungee cord, to name only a few bungee-cord-based fastening system failure modes. Further, according to the Jun. 11, 2000, issue of UPI Science News, doctors testifying before a public health committee at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association in Chicago, Ill., confirm that multiple incidences of severe eye damage have been caused by the safety hazards presented by bungee cords. The testifying doctors report that in many instances surgery is required, but the patient often does not regain complete visual acuity and on occasion, requires the complete removal of the injured eye.
Accordingly, the use of bungee-cord-based fastening systems continues to plaque the trucking industry as a major safety hazard and time consuming activity. Efforts continue, therefore, to develop a tarp fastening system for the already large and ever growing trucking industry that is much safer and that drastically reduces the amount of actuation time as compared to conventional bungee-cord-based fastening systems.